Renato LaRocca Chair in Oncology Social Work
Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work
Karen Kayser, Ph.D., holds the Dr. Renato LaRocca Endowed Chair in Oncology Social Work.
She earned an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Social Work and Psychology from the University of Michigan and was a professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College from 1990-2011.
Her research focuses on the study of interpersonal and cultural factors that influence and promote optimal adjustment to cancer. She has conducted extensive research on health-related stress for individuals, couples, and families both in the United States and internationally, including the countries of India, China, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia. In 2008 she received a Fulbright Scholar Research award and is the 2012 recipient of the Quality of Life in Cancer Care Award (Association of Oncology Social Work and the American Cancer Society).
She has authored and co-authored several books including Helping couples cope with women’s cancers: An evidence-based guide for practitioners (Springer, 2008), Couples coping with stress: Emerging Perspectives on dyadic coping (APA, 2005), and When love dies: The process of marital disaffection (Guilford, 1993).